Aufgabe 3

TASKS

Outline the Gunns' situation and their reasons for undergoing genetic diagnosis. (Text A)

(20%)

2

Show how the way the author presents the Gunns conveys her attitude towards them and their decision. Give evidence from the text. (Text A)

(25%)

3

Mediation You are part of an international science project on genetic engineering. For your project group, outline the information the German film provides about modern blood tests and how they influence the situation of future parents. (Text B)

(20%)

4

Choose one of the following tasks:

4.1

“This is an area in our lives that we can't influence unless we pay for it.” (Text A, l. 24) Explain the quote and assess to what extent expensive procedures in science and technology can lead to social injustice.

(35%)

OR

4.2

Compare the Gunns' efforts to create a perfect family with those of another family from literature, film or real life who use technology to improve their family life. Assess the way they cope.

(35%)

OR

4.3

Write a speech for an international youth conference on human cloning. Using information from Text A, discuss the consequences of trying to create perfect human beings with the help of genetic engineering.

(35%)

Text A: Excerpt from the article

Sex selection: Getting the baby you want

By Amanda Mitchison

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[…] The Gunns live in a nice suburban street in the south of England with their three small boys, but there is not a toy or half-chewed rusk to be seen. We sit around a glass coffee table. The room is clean and modern, the furnishings are that chicken soup colour favoured by architects – and expensive private clinics. Which is just where they are heading. The Gunns want a baby girl. They are off next week to California to undergo in vitro fertilisation using a screening process called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

The couple seem slightly bemused. Not so much because they are travelling halfway round the world for a fantastically expensive and invasive treatment. But because they can't quite understand how they ended up having three boys in the first place. “Robert had always wanted a girl,” Susan says. “We learned that our first child was a boy, and that was fantastic, and we kind of expected the next one to be a girl.” Robert adds: “We were on the 'girl diet' for months. No red wine, no red meat, no coffee, and you had to have white rice and fish and chicken. It was quite bizarre. My friend was on it, too. He had a girl.”

Robert and Susan had a second boy. “But in my family, and in Robert's, there are two boys and then two girls,” Susan says. “I looked at my Christmas card list. Very weirdly, most of our friends have got two boys, and the ones who did go on to have a third child had a girl. Irrationally, I began to think to myself, 'Oh, this is how it is going to be… you have two boys and then you get a girl.' ”

But the Gunns got a third boy.

They are, of course, thrilled. But, Susan says, “I got sick of walking down the high street past BabyGap and seeing these delightful little girl outfits in the window and just getting this pang. This is an area of our lives that we can't influence unless we pay for it. Hmm, that doesn't sound very nice but…” Robert, head down, shoulders hunched, adds: “We often get what we want in our lives. But we work for it.”

And they did work for it. They trawled the internet and found the Fertility Institutes clinic in Los Angeles, run by Doctor Jeffrey Steinberg. They spoke to him on the phone. They booked in. Susan had the blood tests and has started the course of drugs, and soon they'll be off to LA. They'll take the boys with them, and visit Disneyland between the egg harvesting and implantation. Steinberg's clinic is a slick operation. It provides payment plans, a travel agent, a list of restaurants and hotels, and a babysitting service. […]

$\blacktriangleright$ You are part of an international science project on genetic engineering. For your project group, outline the information the German film provides about modern blood tests and how they influence the situation of future parents. Mediate the text. (Text B)

$\blacktriangleright$ “This is an area in our lives that we can't influence unless we pay for it.” (Text A, l. 24) Explain the quote and assess to what extent expensive procedures in science and technology can lead to social injustice.

$\blacktriangleright$ Compare the Gunns' efforts to create a perfect family with those of another family from literature, film or real life who use technology to improve their family life. Assess the way they cope.

$\blacktriangleright$ Write a speech for an international youth conference on human cloning. Using information from Text A, discuss the consequences of trying to create perfect human beings with the help of genetic engineering.

In the article “Sex selection: Getting the baby you want”, which was published on the homepage of The Guardian on April 3, 2010, Amanda Mitchinson writes about the Gunns and their family planning. Robert and Susan Gunn and their three are a wealthy family, living in the suburbs in southern England in a modern, tidy home. Robert and Susan are used to get what they want by working for it.The Gunns have made the decision to go to a fertility clinic in the United States to obtain help fulfilling their desire to have a daughter. They already have three sons and after every time she gave birth to a boy, Susan and especially Robert hoped for their next child to be a girl. Before Susan had their third boy, the couple felt certain that they would get a girl this time. They feel like outsiders because their friends have daughters whereas they themselves do not. But still, they had another boy and even though they were excited about the new member of the family, they were also slightly disappointed. They have looked up an institute in California that performs in vitro fertilisation and are determined to fly there with their sons to undergo the costly treatment.

Task 2

$\blacktriangleright$ Show how the way the author presents the Gunns conveys her attitude towards them and their decision. Give evidence from the text. (Text A)

The author of the text, Amanda Mitchison, appears to disapprove of the Gunns' decision to undergo genetic diagnosis. This is shown in several sentences in the text.First, Mitchison paradoxically describes the treatment as “fantastically expensive” (l. 9). Since the adjective expensive is commonly considered to be a negative word, it is contradictory to the adverb fantastically.Also, in line 22, the author states that the couple was “of course thrilled” when they got their third boy. This sentence conveys that Mitchison thinks the Gunns were excited about the birth of their third son just because it was an obligation.Another passage that shows the author's criticism of the Gunns' decision is the last paragraph, where the clinic is described. The sentence “They booked in.” (ll. 28-29) sounds as if they were going to a hotel or restaurant. Mitchinson's conclusion that the Gunns will “visit Disneyland between the egg harvesting and implantation” (ll. 30-31) makes ironically depicts visiting the clinic as just a regular family getaway, making the Gunns' plan look absurd. Mitchinson never uses “I” or other indicators that this is only her opinion. She relies on small remarks to criticize the Gunns.

Task 3

$\blacktriangleright$ You are part of an international science project on genetic engineering. For your project group, outline the information the German film provides about modern blood tests and how they influence the situation of future parents. Mediate the text. (Text B)

Dear fellow scientists, I would like to present you the most relevant information out of the German movie “The dream of the perfect child”, which depicts current developments in genetic diagnoses.Modern blood tests for pregnant women are targeted at finding out if an unborn child will be born with specific diseases. They can detect disabilities like Down's Syndrome with almost absolute certainty.It is possible to extract an unborn child's DNA from a blood sample which will probably draw attention to all sorts of genetic variations, not only disabilities.Those blood tests will change society and childbearing and they will make it extremely hard for parents to come to a decision when they find out that their unborn child will be born with a disability or disease. Tests for diseases that will not occur before late in life are prohibited in Germany – but they will be offered in other countries. This might cause parents-to-be to go abroad to conduct these sorts of tests and then being unable to cope with the results.Our generation will change considerably due to these new developments. For parents, this will mean an increase in insecurity about pregnancy and childbirth.

Task 4

4.1

$\blacktriangleright$ “This is an area in our lives that we can't influence unless we pay for it.” (Text A, l. 24) Explain the quote and assess to what extent expensive procedures in science and technology can lead to social injustice.

Susan Gunn's statement “This is an area in our lives that we can't influence unless we pay for it” (l. 24) refers to the effort they made trying to conceive a girl the natural way. The dietary change called girl diet involved eating rice, fish and chicken, but no red wine, red meat or coffee.With the natural method not being successful, they decided to undergo a very expensive in vitro fertilisation to be sure to have a baby girl the next time Susan gets pregnant. The Gunns have the financial means to afford flying from England to the United States with their whole family and conduct preimplantation genetic diagnosis in a huge clinic that offers a range of services alongside the fertilisation.The couple is used to get what they want by working for it. And if they cannot make something happen by working for it, they can pay for it.Genetic diagnosis is just one of many expensive procedures in science and technology that only wealthy people can afford.Affluent people have enough money to undergo costly treatments and buy expensive medicine. Many people who suffer from diseases do not have the financial means to buy lifesaving medicine. The widening gap between rich and poor and the resulting inequalities and social injustice are a big problem in our society.Furthermore, when it comes to other medical equipment and procedures like prostheses and expensive surgery, rich people have a huge advantage over the poor and can always opt for the best possibility.Modern blood tests as described in text B are also costly procedures that cannot be used by poorer people. Only wealthy people have the means to deduct tests that can detect whether an unborn child will be born with a disability.

4.2

$\blacktriangleright$ Compare the Gunns' efforts to create a perfect family with those of another family from literature, film or real life who use technology to improve their family life. Assess the way they cope.

Susan and Robert Gunn are only one of many couples in literature and film that try to create a perfect family with the help of technology.Another example for these couples is depicted in Steven Spielberg's movie “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” that is set in the future. Henry and Monica Swinton's son Martin has a rare disease and only a slim chance of survival. The couple then takes in David, an artificial child that is capable of feeling. But then a cure for Martin is found and he does not get along with David.The Swintons use technology to improve their family life by taking in a humanoid robot as a replacement for their son. They did not expect Martin to recover from his disease and thought that if they lost him to his disease, they might be comforted by David being part of their family.Though this example is more drastic than the Gunns' method, both couples try to improve their family life by using technology.The Gunns already have three sons and have always wanted a daughter. They try to make that wish come true with the help of in vitro fertilisation and go to a special clinic. In their opinion, their family is only perfect if they have a baby girl and thus they pay a lot of money for a method called preimplantation genetic diagnosis.The Swintons, on the other hand, want to improve their family life by taking in a childlike robot in case they lose Martin due to his disease. Their approach to use technology to enhance their lives is quite radical.

4.3

$\blacktriangleright$ Write a speech for an international youth conference on human cloning. Using information from Text A, discuss the consequences of trying to create perfect human beings with the help of genetic engineering.

Welcome to the International Youth Conference 2015 and thank you for this opportunity to speak about the subject of genetic engineering.In today's world we all feel the pressure to be perfect. Everyone thinks that everything has to be impeccable. Therefore, some people apply unusual methods and the importance of technology and science is growing.Genetic engineering in general and human cloning are examples for these unusual methods I was referring to. Mankind is trying to create perfect human beings, but do we also think about the consequences?We live in a world where families can decide which sex their next child should have. You only have to pay a lot of money to undergo an expensive treatment in a special clinic and there you go – you will get the baby you wished for.But that means that we turn our back on nature. Is it not unnatural to choose the sex of a child?Ever since, couples have had babies the natural way and they were happy. I don't think people of earlier times were longing for a procedure to determine their next child's sex. Those methods were pushed on us by researchers. But just because scientists have developed methods to create “perfect” human beings, we do have to apply them. We cannot give way to the pressure we're feeling and need to learn to cope with what happens to us in life.I ask all of you to give thought to that topic and question the methods of genetic engineering.Thank you for your attention and goodbye!